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Part 1 of Leaving It All Behind
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2021-03-14
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Leaving It All Behind

Chapter 19: Cabin In The Woods

Notes:

*turns dramatically*

Oh... hello there.

*winks*

Well now that I have gotten that bit of weird out in the open here is the song I lived for during this chapter, in a particular scene I’m sure you'll figure it out.

(Do I stress you guys out?)

Take on the World - You Me At Six

See ya’ll at the end.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Leaving It All Behind

Chapter 19: Cabin In The Woods

The sun was beginning to dip out of view and Sokka could feel the steady decline of temperature as the continuous breeze carried the cold chill down the mountain. Sokka couldn't help but think about how usually, if he were this close to Zuko, he would be sweating from the heat pulsing off the fire bender’s body… but the boy was silent and cold against his back.

Zuko was the type to always have a strong awareness of his surroundings, even when he was sleeping… so the fact that he didn’t even acknowledge the strange woman's sudden appearance was alarming. The fear and worry was tying tiny knots along the bottom of Sokka’s stomach, he felt nauseous from the feeling… and possibly the lack of food. Sokka couldn’t even remember the last time he ate real food and without that, he didn’t have enough energy left after hiking through the woods half the night and most of the day. The lack of energy was starting to cause fatigue which impaired his vision and made every step agonizing.

Sokka’s legs were throbbing and Zuko felt like he weighed way more than his thin body was capable of weighing. Once they reached a point where the terrain began to hike up into an incline, Sokka thought his legs were going to crumble beneath him, spilling him and Zuko onto the ground. He could barely keep his eyes focused on the woman walking in front of him, sometimes she blurred into two versions of herself - but she always went back to one. The woman would glance back at them occasionally, but she kept her eyes forward for the most part. With her shoulders squared and back straight, she walked in a sense of purpose and her body followed the forest like they were old friends.

She weaved between the trees as the foliage began to thin and rugged rock formations began to rise up from the earth as they started the exhausting trek up the mountain. The dirt under his bare feet turned to stone and the walk became even more difficult, if that was even fucking possible. Sokka’s bare foot caught a sharp stone that had splintered off and wandered out in front of him. Of course, it just happened to land in the perfect spot so that he would step on it… directly on that little tender spot on the inside of his foot.

He hissed from the annoyingness of the pain, because honestly was the small pain in his foot going to be the thing to make him stop walking? Not the burning, throbbing, aching pain that came from all his other worse injuries?

Exactly, get over it.

So he got over it and kept his bare feet moving forward until they started to pass impossible-to-climb-rock-formations as they continued their ascent into the higher altitude. Sokka realized the very mountain they were hiking up was the exact one that he had been searching for from the map, his half-way-mark-mountain. It was a lot smaller than the map depicted it would be… but still they climbed higher and the trees thinned until they arrived at a strange looking rock formation, one that seemed to block off the trail they were following. Sokka hesitated because… why would she lead them here?

It was clearly a dead end.

Sokka’s nervous eyes shifted around and he felt himself subconsciously pull Zuko’s thighs a little tighter, just in case they had to run. Sokka wasn’t sure if he could… run, mostly because he couldn’t really walk but he would sure-fucking-try to run. The woman glanced back at him and Sokka’s breath hitched in his throat… she smiled and moved around the piled boulders and disappeared from his view.

It… wasn’t possible?

Sokka wasn’t sure where she had gone because there was no space between the cluster of boulders and the side of the mountain… Unless

He took a few steps towards the illusion and realized there was a gap where the trail curved around the boulders and cut through a small crevice between the one of the massive rocks and the side of the cliff. The small space wasn't enough for a kymodo-rhino or any other type of wagon or tank to pass, but someone who was looking for a way through and was on foot might be able to fit.

Sokka hesitated, the churning in his gut made him feel sick, mostly because it was empty and he had used up every ounce of adrenaline he had left. Still, he had to move forward… Zuko needed help or he was going to die and at this point... if this woman really wanted to hurt him, she could do it now or later, so either way… he was fucked.

Sokka groaned to himself because the word just left a different taste in his mouth now, he cursed himself for turning every turn-of-phrase into something disgusting. Well… it wasn’t disgusting... if it was performed in the right context. Sokka shook his head because he was mentally distracting himself from the fear that was tingling in his toes.

Sokka held his breath as he made his narrow squeeze through the hidden passageway and his eyes met with the woman’s hazel stare on the other side. She smiled, “almost there kid, can you make it?”

Sokka’s mind screamed NO, but his body did that annoying thing where it moved without consulting him and he nodded YES and much to Sokka’s despair... They were walking again. The path curved around the side of the mountain at a steady incline for a few minutes until it began to descend back towards the forest on the other side. The trees returned in clusters and Sokka mindlessly followed the woman until she veered off the trail and cut through a hidden path that had been cleared through the brush.

Sokka took a deep breath as he followed behind her, his nervousness reached a new peak as the unknown destination in front of him came closer. The rest of the walk didn’t take long and soon the smell of smoke and other herbs and spices filled his nostrils, the salivating began once his pallet picked up on the smoked-meat smell that wafted through the trees. A decent sized log cabin came into view and Sokka’s heart began to beat in his chest, it was the first human residence that he has seen since being captured in the north, all that time ago… he couldn’t even think about what it would feel like to be in a home.

The cabin was nestled between a group of ancient-monster-oak-trees, their massive size towered over the earth and extended over the cabin in a web of thick, mossy coated branches that laced together in a way that was almost poetic. Thick hanging moss created a cozy blanket from the sun, shading the area around the home and providing them with unspoken comfort as it stretched over the cabin. Flickering shadows from the approaching dusk made the homestead look almost… magical, but that had to be Sokka’s complete exhaustion speaking because he has never used the word magical to describe something before.

The cabin was built rather closer to the bend of the mountain which created a perfectly secluded domain, hidden under the cover of the trees. The cabin itself was constructed so the building was longer horizontally with a pointed roof and 4 windows on each side of the entrance going down to the end. There was a small stone porch at the front door lined with stacks of rocks in a variety of sizes. The cabin itself was built with large logs that lined the outer walls and extended high into a pointed roof with a stone chimney which expelled puffs of light grey smoke.

There was evidence of life at the homestead everywhere, from the laundry slowly swaying between two trees, to the gardens overflowing with vegetation. There were clear signs of innovative thinking and clever solutions for common problems, he noticed it right away with the complex system of pipes criss-crossed across the garden that drizzled water over the growing vegetation. There had to be a fresh water source nearby and the thought of crisp, cool water made Sokka’s tongue dance over the front of his teeth, they felt… fuzzy.

He could hear sounds of animal life in a part of the homestead that he couldn’t see, he wondered how much more there was just out view. Sokka’s eyes were distracted from the strange-haired-woman and it wasn’t until he heard the creaking of a wooden door that his blue eyes shot over to where the noise had originated from.

A slightly younger, but still middle-aged woman appeared, standing in the open doorway. The woman was holding the door open when she paused, when her eyes landed on Sokka and Zuko her face softened and a small smile spread from cheek to cheek. She wore her silver-blonde hair long and tied into a loose braid slung over her shoulder, her dark eyes were bright in the opposite way that Zhao’s amber eyes had been dark. Her skin carried a skin-kissed-pale color that complimented the soft pink flush that seemed permanently pigmented into her cheeks.

“Oh, hello there! Welcome home - that was a short forage, but I see you gathered… company?”

She giggled at her own joke (which Sokka would have usually found hilarious if he were not half-brain-dread) wiping her hands off on the stained and spotted apron she had tied around her waist. She descended down the stone steps that extending down from where she stood, Sokka couldn’t help but mentally flinch at the memory of steps leading into a cabin full of torture and pain. He counted as she took 5 footsteps down the 4 stone steps, he swallowed the lump in his throat and tightened his grip just a little tighter against Zuko. The other woman’s smile faded instantly when she saw the horrible condition he was sure that he and Zuko looked, she rushed forward (Sokka heard the one woman call the hazel-eyed-fake-cane-carrying woman – V when they exchanged hushed words) V held out her arm to stop the braided-hair-woman from getting too close.

Sokka mentally scoffed to himself, feral.

“I found these two in the woods, the one boy is sick and very injured, we need to get his wounds cleaned and assess his condition right away. The other boy is injured as well, he will also need to be cleaned. I say we fill the basin with warm but not hot water and while they bathe we can gather some medicine, it looks like a lot of burns and bruises – possibly some internal bleeding. They are escaped prisoners of Zhao.”

The woman twirled the end of her braid within her fingers, her brow furrowed at the mention of Zhao and her dark eyes met with Sokka as her thin lips twitched into a comforting smile just for him. “I will go gather some coals and get the bath prepared –“

“My friend has been poisoned, he needs to throw up to get it out of his stomach… I was trying to get him to throw up just before you found us… please, can you help him?” Sokka didn’t mean to cut her off but Zuko had not moved since the last time they stopped to rest. If they didn’t get the pills out of his body he was going to die.

Both women looked at one another and worked in an impressive harmony when they took Sokka’s words as permission to begin helping them. He smothered down the panic that was thumping in his chest, he had to stay calm and let these women help them… he had no other choice. They gently moved him inside and he heard another gasp when the newer woman saw the extent of Zuko’s injuries. The weight of Zuko’s body was lifted from his back and for the first time since he began following V… Sokka took a full breath of air.

He had to hold back a sob when he saw the dark veins crawling up Zuko’s bruised and burned neck, they gripped their way up into his face, lacing across his jawline. The barley-hanging-on-tunic did very little to cover the evidence of sexual abuse that displayed itself prominently on his body. Sokka had to close his wandering eyes because if he looked too long he was going to lose-his-shit and have a full-blown mental breakdown in front of these strange women. So, he ignored it and pushed back the darkness, when he opened his eyes again he kept them focused on the women in front of him.

Together, they worked in synchronized motions, the longer haired woman stood (whose name Sokka still had not obtained) and rushed down the hallway to Sokka’s left disappearing into a room unseen, but soon after he heard the sound of rushing water. Sokka began to panic further when V moved to put her hand on one of the injuries on Zuko’s neck. He moved towards Zuko in a weird, defensive, confusing rush of needing to grab the other boy and pull him away from her. V seemed to notice his tension and her eyes focused in on his shifting blue gaze, he wasn’t sure where to look and everything felt overwhelming. He could feel his eyes moving too fast and his breathing increasing as each breath brought him less and less air.

His senses were overwhelmed from the various herbs and their different smells and vast collection of scrolls and books lining the walls, the intense burning from the fire… everything felt… too much and all he wanted to do was protect Zuko –

“Kid, it’s alright… we just want to help you. In order to help you and your friend we need to get you cleaned so we can treat your injuries. If you want… I can help clean you both so we make sure to take special care of – “

“No! No… I can do it.”

Her hazel eyes didn’t fight him, she seemed to expect his reaction. “I figured you’d say as much, I will let you… as long as you actually clean him, all of him.”

She looked at him with a steady gaze and Sokka knew what she was referring to because she was not a stupid woman and she was not a naïve one either, there were obvious signs of what had happened to Zuko and there were going to be things that would be uncomfortable for him because of it… but Sokka didn’t care what he had to do for Zuko, he would do anything to bring Zuko some kind of comfort. He just wanted to give his fire bending friend some sort of peace after all the anguish he had been through and Sokka felt the need to help provide it, the burning in his chest demanded it.

“I can take care of him.”

V didn’t argue and her hazel eyes didn’t linger for extra conversation, she simply helped Sokka pull Zuko back onto his back and was led further into the home, they stepped down into an open room with a fire in the center. He noticed there were all sorts of different pots and various bowls and containers stacked around the fire, along with a few seating pillows and a couple of furs. Sokka’s eyes lingered on the furs, a creeping feeling of nostalgia nipped at the small part of his brain that wanted to pull him into happy memories of a giggling sister in a pile of warm furs.

Instead, he kept his mind on where he was going, he followed V down a hallway and through a door on his left, she stood outside the open door and motioned him inside. The room was about half the size of the washroom back at the prison camp, but it was luxurious in comparison. The floors were a smooth stone surface that felt cold against his tired feet and the large wood basin, it was the biggest tub he had ever seen, plenty big enough for him and Zuko to fit comfortably. A metal pipe was extending out from the wall and positioned over the basin, still dripping warm water from the spout.

Sokka saw the faint wisps of steam wafted off the surface of the water, his skin tinged in anticipation of the idea of sitting in the warm water. He couldn’t tell if he was more excited to experience the comfort of a warm bath or if he was more excited to help rid Zuko of whatever discomfort covered his body. Sokka felt the strong urge to expunge him of that, when he turned back to the open door he saw V was gone and the other woman had replaced her.

The braided-hair-woman stood in the doorway and smiled sweetly at them, her dark brown eyes were calm and she pointed from where she stood at a small table next to the tub. “There are soaps and oils on the table and I put a few in the water already, they will help start to cleanse any infections that might have started. I went ahead and I placed some spare tunics and a few pant options we had that I thought might fit you. I know this is… probably a lot, but just know… V is a very talented healer and she is umm..” The woman smiled and Sokka saw something in her eyes that made his own chest flutter freely at the idea… “she is a very kind woman underneath all her attitude… she will help save your friend –“

“Knock, knock dear, I come bearing gifts for our guests, most importantly the poisoned one...” The braided woman’s face brightened at the sound of her… wife’s? voice. V walked into the room and approached Sokka, setting a tray on the table next to the tub. The metal tray carried a pitcher of water with a few empty stone cups and one particular small stone cup full of a dark green liquid. After she set the tray on the table she put a deep metal bowl on the ground.

“I would like whatever your friend throws up in the bucket please.”

Sokka frowned but nodded in agreement because - fuck it, if she wanted the nasty black gunk that came out of Zuko’s stomach, more power to her. That was the last of the conversation and Sokka was left alone with Zuko slung across his back and the gravity of the situation really sank in, he had to undress and bathe Zuko. Sokka lowered his friend onto the ground and the fire bender cracked open his unscarred eye when his head was lowered onto the stone floor beneath them. The dull gold color was hardly visible against the dark void of his drug-induced pupils.

“Hey buddy, I’m going to undress you... ok? I have to clean your wounds… I think… I think I found us a safe place… well, more like the safe place found us. But before we do anything… I uh…”

Sokka looked down at Zuko’s foggy eyes that barely had the strength to stay open, Sokka searched them for some kind of sign that he heard him. When there was no reaction except the slightest tilt of his head, Sokka trailed the unscarred side of his face softly with his thumb. “Look at my eyes Zuko, who do you know that has blue eyes?”

Sokka watched as Zuko’s eyes focused on the words and his gaze finally met the blue of Sokka’s eyes, he watched the haze clear for a moment of recognition before the small wave of relaxation washed over the boy. He nodded and Sokka focused on the small sliver of gold that remained in Zuko’s eyes, because he knew that as long as there was some gold left, Zuko was alive and he was in there.

“Zuko, do you trust me?” The question left Sokka’s lips without him fully realizing the weight of the question. Zuko stared at him and Sokka wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to answer, but much to the Water Tribe boy’s surprise Zuko nodded, yes. Sokka smiled and the tears stung at his eyes, ok.. he could do this he just had to get up and start doing it.

He stood and moved over to the table holding the glorious looking water, grabbing the tray and the metal bucket-bowl-thing he moved back over to where Zuko was. Sokka decided it was better to get Zuko to throw up first and then give him some water and then put him in the tub. He lifted Zuko’s upper half, ignoring the stretched out tunic that was falling down one of his shoulders, at least the sash that Sokka had tied around his waist kept the bottom half of the too-big-tunic from riding up and revealing too much of the fire bender to the women that were helping them.

… though, something in the back of Sokka’s mind told him the ladies were not interested in anything Zuko or Sokka had to offer them…

Which brought up all sorts of conflicting feelings that Sokka didn’t understand because it was unheard-of for two women to be married, but he distinctly remembered V calling the other woman her wife. Sokka would have to look into the situation whenever he had enough energy to concentrate on something like that, but now was not the time. Sokka held the cup up to Zuko’s lips and the fire bender glanced up at him with a look that made Sokka’s heart squeeze, it hurt so bad to see the fear layered in the fog of Zuko’s eyes.

“You said you trusted me, I promise I…” Sokka didn’t know… he didn’t know what this was that he was giving Zuko, he was just doing what these women said… they could be…

Sokka exhaled and closed his eyes, in-through-the-nose-out-through-the-mouth, they were not going to poison an already poisoned boy. She wouldn’t have led them all the way here and looked at them with the hurt and care in her eyes if she didn’t want to help. “I promise it will be ok, drink this, please.”

Sokka tilted the cup up and Zuko reluctantly accepted the liquid, his face scowled and he exhaled an angry puff of air out of his nose but he drank it and didn’t complain. That’s one thing Sokka really liked about Zuko, he wasn’t a complainer, he would do whatever the most logical thing was unless convinced otherwise and he wouldn’t stop. Somehow, in some strange twist of what his reality had become, Sokka had earned the power to convince Zuko to do whatever it was that he thought was best.

It was strange at first, but now it seemed natural to share his ideas and his leadership with the other boy and in this moment, as Zuko lay helpless next to him, he completely trusted Sokka to do what was best for them. The warmth in his chest burned a little stronger as a smile twitched the corner of his lips. Sokka had felt so cold, ever since he began that unsure hike up the mountain as he followed a stranger down abandoned trails, deeper and deeper into the woods…He had felt so cold But now, when he looked at Zuko who was alive and was….

- Oh shit, throwing up.

Sokka scrambled for the bucket and couldn’t help but dry heave himself when a glob of the black-goo slopped across his hand. Sokka closed his eyes and turned his head so he didn’t have to watch Zuko violently throw up into the way-too-shallow bucket. Sokka waited until Zuko went quiet and the awful sound a person made when they were purging went away, peeking open his eyes, he was surprised to see that there actually wasn’t a lot of black-goo.

The goo sat in a puddle of clear stomach juice at the bottom of the bucket and Sokka slid the little bit that was landed on his hand to join it’s family in the bucket. Sokka pushed the disgustingness away from them and turned his attention back to Zuko. He was shivering and gasping from the energy and effort it took to rid himself off the at least some of the toxin.

“Alright buddy, you did really well… Can you hear me?” Sokka didn’t get a response but he figured that would be normal after going through something like that, especially when you didn’t even know what was going on in the first place. “I’m going to undress you and we will get you cleaned up, ok? Remember, it's just me, Sokka.”

Sokka untied the knot in the waist sash first, unable to unwind it with Zuko lying on the floor he gently pulled the boy’s upper half off the ground and into his lap. With the boy halfway off the ground Sokka ignored the cold feeling of his skin and the tremors that were moving through Zuko’s chest. Sokka had to unwind the sash like… 100 times before it finally unwound. Once it was undone he threw it to the side and closed his eyes and counted to three…

One, two… three… Sokka pulled off the tunic and tried his best not to look... but his eyes lingered too long on the bruises lining the crook of Zuko’s neck and the bruised and burned hand prints that marked him in places that made Sokka’s stomach turn. There were older scars covering his chest and stomach, it looked like he may have received a lashing there or some kind of other striking punishment. Sokka’s stomach dropped when he saw the puffy, straight lines on his chest where Sokka had burned him and they had scarred over.

Sokka tore his eyes away and quickly shimmied his way out from under Zuko and removed his own clothing. It was weird being naked with another naked guy, but Sokka wasn’t going to overthink it, because who fucking cared at this point? He was also not going to over think how soft Zuko’s skin was when he pulled the boy against him and maneuvered them both into the basin.

Sokka had gone in first, there was a single step in front of the basin to offer assistance to someone who was entering the tub, Sokka hesitated and felt the small sting of anxiety when he looked down at the step. He hated how his emotions controlled his thinking when it came to stupid things like steps. Sokka pulled Zuko along with him, he knew he accidentally knocked Zuko a few times but he had done his best… He just wanted to try to avoid placing his hands anywhere near the other hand marks on his body.

When Sokka’s aching legs stepped into the lukewarm water his body melted into the warmth, the rush of emotions that swirled inside him brought happy tears to his eyes. Sokka glided through the water with Zuko held tightly in his arms, until he rested his back on the back of the tub. The water had the faint scent of sandalwood mixed with another herb he recognized but couldn’t recall the name of. The water came up to his shoulders, covering them both in a comfort that was so… foreign. He had pulled Zuko close enough that the other body was flush against him with his head tilted back against Sokka’s shoulder and his scarred side resting against Sokka’s face.

Sokka ignored the fact that he was pressed up against the back of Zuko’s naked body, but like… fully pressed up against Zuko’s back in a way that he was afraid would make the other boy uncomfortable. Especially after what he had just been through… Sokka had the insides of his thighs pressed up against Zuko's outer hips and thighs, the boy was practically seated in his lap…. naked.

Even though the water was so damn comforting… Sokka found himself too consumed with his worrying thoughts to fully enjoy it, he was hyper-focused on worrying if this was too much of an intimate position for Zuko…

“… Sokka?”

The sounds of Zuko’s broken voice shook Sokka out of his thoughts, he blinked and shifted his eyes to the side that Zuko rested against, but he realized he wouldn’t be able to look at the boy directly unless he moved his head. So instead, he kept his head in place and stared forward at the log cabin wall before licking his lips, he answered.

“Yes?”

“Are you ok?”

Sokka exhaled a long breath and closed his eyes, there were stupid tears stinging his eyes again, because this fucking idiot wakes up for two-seconds and had to audacity to ask if Sokka was alright? Sometimes… Sokka didn’t know what to think about Zuko, he continued to predictably surprise him. In response, Sokka leaned his head a little heavier against the side of Zuko’s face and the boy accepted the weight.

“Yes… are you ok?”

Zuko snorted, and it made Sokka’s heart start to beat in a funny pattern that caused his stomach to flutter. “No, but it's fine. Where are we?”

Sokka decided that purging the bending suppressants must have given Zuko a moment of clarity, or.. semi-clarity… but it probably wouldn’t last long. Sokka decided to enjoy his friend's voice and the small vibrations his back made when he spoke. He found comfort in the feeling of the soft breaths rattling in Zuko’s lungs with each rise and fall of his chest.

“We are… uh, I don’t know. But there are two women here and they want to help us… but I can’t let you sit in the water too long, so I need to clean you and then we need to let the healer-woman treat your injuries.”

Zuko was quiet for a few breaths and Sokka wished he could look into Zuko’s eyes and try to gage how the boy was feeling, but he was too content with the comfort from their position to disrupt that. The scarred skin on Zuko’s face was similar to the boiled scar on his own hand, but his face was smoother… probably worn down and smoothed out from years of wear. Sokka’s stomach flipped at the thought of a young Zuko, full of fire and life speaking to his father and being… burned so horrifically for it… Sokka couldn’t imagine a world where ANYTHING Zuko said would warrant that type of response.

But it had happened and Sokka didn’t really care why... because now it was a part of who Zuko was, just like all of Sokka’s scars were a part of who he was.

“I - I can wash myself.”

Sokka frowned, “absolutely not, you just save your strength and let me take care of you, ok?”

Zuko was quiet but he nodded, the silky scarred skin of his face rubbed softly against his cheek, making Sokka smile at the sensation. Reaching his arm over to the table he grabbed the cloth and the weird… soap like substance that was soft and had to be scooped out of the bowl with his fingers. Most soap, if not all soap… had always been in a compacted bar, so this was… different. Sokka eye’d the soap suspiciously and then mentally kicked himself for being so feral that he was suspicious of soap. He smeared the pale-yellow substance on the cloth and took a deep breath before starting on Zuko's shoulders, carefully washing the burns that mirrored one another in the crooks of his neck.

Sokka continued to take deep-controlled breaths as he washed Zuko and witnessed the unimaginable hurt that had been inflicted on the fucking Prince of the Fire Nation. Zhao could say whatever… or do whatever, but it didn’t change the fact that Zuko IS the fucking Prince of the Fire Nation and Sokka wouldn’t let him forget it. Swallowing down the anger that was firing up in his chest he dragged the rag down Zuko’s back as he tilted the boy forward, just enough that his head lifted away from Sokka’s face and the Water Tribe boy was able to wiggle the rag between them.

Sokka watched the cloth trail across countless scars that could have only come from being whipped, Sokka knew he had a few of those to match... but Zuko also had fire whip scars alongside them and those were puffy and jagged from where the burns had probably become infected at one point. Sokka thought back to what Zuko had shared about Chang healing his wounds in the office all those days, he wondered if Chang had not done that… How long ago would Zuko have died?

Sokka felt that burning question awakened in the back of his mind, as it demanded his complete breakdown at the idea of Zuko dying. Sokka wouldn’t entertain that idea again. He finished with Zuko’s back, paying extra attention to the burns scalded into the flesh of his hips and waist where…

Sokka took a deep breath and pulled Zuko back against him, trailing the rag across his chest where the angry marks sucked into his neck and chest trailed down to his nipples where the skin was raw and red. He ran the rag down the front of Zuko’s stomach, mentally kicking himself for lacking the intense muscle definition his friend had, he tenderly washed the front of Zuko’s hips where the fingertips had dug into his friend's flesh... Sokka had to breathe deep breaths because he could feel the angry dragon stomping around in his chest, demanding retribution… someone had to pay for what was done to Zuko… fuck it, what was done to both of them.. but mostly for what the sick-fucking-monster did to his friend.

Sokka had been avoiding his neck, but after he washed his chest, he decided that the stalling was over and it was time to take on that wound. Rinsing the rag extremely well he ignored the copper-brown color the water was turning from both of their filth. Smearing more of the odd-smelling soap on the rag, Sokka began slowly patting the raw burn on his neck, earning a hiss of pain from Zuko... and then he asked a question that made Sokka’s stomach knot up.

“… what is that?” His raspy voice made the muscles in his throat move and Sokka watched when they flexed as Zuko swallowed. He was waiting for Sokka to say something… so he told him the truth, it seemed to be the easiest thing to do nowadays.

“It’s a burn.”

“...Oh, ok.”

Sokka didn’t say anything else and neither did Zuko.

Sokka pretended not to feel the way his friend twitched and tensed when the cloth gently wiped the dirt, sweat and other grime out of the open wound. There was charred skin that would need extra attention that Sokka didn’t have time for, he had to finish cleaning the wounds and get Zuko and himself out of the water to properly dress them in salve and bandages.

Sokka felt a cool shudder creep down his spine at the thought of cooling salve and fresh bandages wrapping around his torso where the burn on his side ached and throbbed. The cold feeling stayed as the water became less and less warm, Sokka took a deep breath and moved the rag lower.

He thought of warning Zuko, but instead of building it up Sokka just slipped the rag down between his friends legs to the most intimate part of a person. Sokka felt Zuko tense, like… really tense but Sokka was quick with washing his manhood, he was actually surprised to find that the hair down there was soft like the hair on his head… which was kind of unfair. Sokka’s own hair was coarser in texture and thicker down there, curling up like a big bush around a tree.

Sokka shook his head and got that image out of his head right away and moved the rag back to the area where he knew had to be the most painful… Sokka moved extremely carefully and he felt Zuko twist away from him. “Zuko… you have to stay still, please… I don’t want to hurt you.”

“... It's already… hurt.”

Sokka was sure Zuko muttered the entire sentence through grit teeth but the words were clear enough for Sokka to hear. It was as if someone threw a cart full of tinder on the fire in his chest because he felt the burning rage spread through his body and it set him on fire. His arms trembled from the pent up rage, but he forced himself to stay steady and strong for the boy in his arms.

“I know… I’m sorry…” Sokka squeezed Zuko tighter with the one arm he still had wrapped around his waist and he moved the rag to finish cleaning him up. Zuko made a noise that sounded like a pained gag and Sokka’s heart squeezed so tight he thought his eyes were going to explode from the pressure. Sokka was so thankful when it was done, but his eyes got really wide when he pulled the rag up and saw the bright red blood streaked across the fabric.

“… Zuko… are you ok?”

Zuko’s breathing was coming in a little shorter now and his eyes were squeezed shut, Sokka rinsed the rag off and smeared some more of the soap on the fabric. He moved quickly, scrubbing his own body just a little too hard in places he just wanted clean, he wished he could dollop some of that soap onto his brain and scrub his mind clean too.

When Sokka was finished, he dropped the rag in the water and stood up in the tub, pulling Zuko up with him. He was surprised how not uncomfortable it had become to have the naked, slippery fire bender so close to him.

It was a little weird when Sokka’s own manhood rubbed against Zuko’s smooth skin in the process of pulling him out of the tub. Ignoring all thoughts, Sokka finished pulling Zuko out of the tub and laid him on the stone floor, covering him with one of the two towels the women had left for them. Glancing down at Zuko, he could see the dark veins still webbing across his pale body… Securing his own towel in place he moved to the door and peeked his head out, he was not surprised to see V standing in the hallway leaning against the wall just outside the door.

Her brow furrowed when she saw Sokka standing in the doorway with just a towel on, he didn’t care. “My friend, he is bleeding from a… uh, not so good spot… I think he needs help.” Her expression turned serious quickly, she moved past Sokka and entered the room to kneel down next to Zuko. Sokka hovered over her while she looked down at the injured fire bender.

“Did you bathe with him?”

Sokka looked confused, was he not supposed to?

“Yes, I had to wash him.” He didn’t mean to sound angry, but his voice was sharp.

The woman shook her head and moved on from the question and onto a new one.

“Where is the stuff he threw up?”

“In the bucket right - “

“Eve! I need some help!” she turned and looked at Sokka, “did you two have any water yet?”

Sokka frowned, no he had not and he had also forgotten to offer Zuko water because he was an idiot… “No.”

“Get me some water, make sure you pour yourself a glass.”

Sokka did as he was told, holding the towel in place and really regretting not putting on the clothing they provided before inviting the woman into his room of nakedness. He was just so fucking worried about the bleeding coming out of Zuko’s uhhh... private area, an area that should never have been touched by the sick-monster-Zhao. Sokka’s hands trembled as he grabbed the pitcher of water and poured some into the two small stone cups, he moved over to where V was kneeling next to Zuko with the bucket next to her.

She reached out for the cup and Sokka reacted by pulling it away from her, “I will do it.” He didn’t care that she looked annoyed, he would take care of Zuko... he could fix the hurt… he forgot to give him the water now he will fix it and give him the water. He didn’t need this woman to do it for him…

“Before you do that, why don’t you drink your water first. It will give you a free hand to help your friend.” Her words were slow and calculated, Sokka didn’t think much of it as he swigged back his own cup of water. The foul taste hit his tongue instantly and his eyes went wide when he realized… she had put something in the water. Sokka’s mouth opened to say something as he threw the cup at her in a weak hazy attempt to fight her off of Zuko…

No words came out of his mouth and the world around him started to blur and spin just before everything went dark.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The sky was dark, the fire burned around him.

Looking up, he didn’t see the moon.

There was no light, only burning.

He stood, looking… searching.

Running, he began to panic.

“ZUKO!”

He could scream, so he did.

Screaming and screaming until his throat was raw.

But there was nothing.

Only burning.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sokka startled awake from his heart pounding in his chest, there was a dull pain in his throbbing, hollow stomach and a stinging in his head. Reaching up he rubbed his eyes, the blurriness in his vision refused to clear, he felt… slow. His memory lugged sluggish thoughts through his mind… his eyes blinked for what felt like forever as he smacked his lips and rubbed his face.

His hands felt… numb, looking down he saw his arms were… white!?

Ohhhhh, wait...

He and Zuko must have switched arms… that was fine… he would take care of Zuko’s arms for him while he rested. Sokka closed his eyes and felt his world tilt back and he was asleep again.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

This time, when Sokka woke up he didn’t sit straight up, instead he cracked one eye open just enough that his eyelashes would hide his searching blue iris. He had to get the fuck out of here, these women were crazy and who knows what horrible things they were doing to Zuko… His heart began to quicken as the anger started to burn inside him, they better not have done anything to hurt Zuko worse than he had already been hurt.

He would kill every bitch in this building if they hurt him… Sokka couldn’t see much through his thick lashes but he knew he was lying in a bed, it was… more comfortable then the prison bed at least. There was a soft light coming into the room from behind him, which indicated that he must have his back facing a wall with a window. Based on the light cascading into the room the sun was rising and that meant that he had slept through the entire night… and morning had arrived.

His heart began to pound so loud in his ears we were sure his eardrums were going to pop, had Zuko lived through the night? That was such a long time to be asleep… He could have... He could… have...

Sokka sat up, he couldn’t stop himself when he tried to move his legs but the numb feeling left a tingling sensation stinging all the way into his toes. When he looked down at his arms he saw they were wrapped in white bandages, reaching up he felt his hair hanging loose on his head, the awkward cut had made it so the front had reached just below the shoulders and he had no idea how the back looked. He couldn’t even remember the last time he looked at a reflection of himself… he was almost scared to see who would look back at him.

“Woah, kid… Don’t move too fast – “

“ST-Stay back!” Sokka knew he heard someone but his vision was still adjusting to being awake and the sunlight was making it hard for his watering eyes to see through the blur. He held out his arms in front of him, one of his hands made a fist and he could feel the feeling slowly creeping its way back into his fingertips.

“I promise… everything is going to be fine… Your friend is alive, you are alive, I promise we mean you no harm.

Sokka’s vision settled and he saw the woman with the braid… He couldn’t remember her name, but she was in his room… his room no, THE room. She was in the room he was in, kneeling in front of the bed and slowly Sokka pulled himself into a sitting position with his back against the wall, as far away from her as he could slide.

Glancing around he saw the room was a basic square, almost like it was set up for a guest… He was sitting in the one bed that sat up against the back wall, a basin with water was in the corner with a small table with a few odds and ends on top. Other than that the room was bare. When he looked back at the woman her dark eyes smiled at him and her pale skin glistened in the sunlight that stopped just under her nose.

Her smile was brighter from the sun, but Sokka felt the warmth from her kindness from where he sat… the energy she gave off calmed him and he swallowed before speaking, his words were strong and focused.

“Where is my friend?”

“V is still working on his wounds, he is very injured…you both are.”

“You said he was alive… I want to see him.”

She smiled at him, the same kind of smile his dad gave him back when Sokka was small and would ask why they were all leaving to sail off to war… It was the longest 6 weeks of his life as he watched his father pack up the boats as the tribe’s men hugged their loved ones goodbye. Those 6 weeks he had left with his dad, knowing he was going to be gone his father spent helping prepare the village… because that’s what a Chief did… they put their tribe before… everything….

“V wants to speak to you before you see him, please.” Her words interrupted his self-pity-party.

Sokka felt his face twist into a glaring scowl, the dragon poked its head up as his inner fire burned towards the woman in front of him… but what was usually a rolling roar of anger was simmered into a puff of steam as his anger died down and the dragon returned to sleep. The woman’s eyes were transparent and reminded him of his sister… the way she was kind under every aggressive outburst or snarky comment, she was so kind and loved people so much… even though she had ever reason not to.

“Please…” The woman started, “I know you are scared and what V did was dirty… I will admit, drugging the water, but it was completely natural and safe. I swear... only some herbs, valerian root being the main one. You were… hysterical, violent, scared and she was afraid you would hurt yourself in an accident or your friend… You needed rest… we bandaged your wounds and cleaned out the infection that was forming in the burn on your side. You are very, very lucky to have still been standing after everything your body must have endured. Would you please talk to her? Would you speak with V?”

Sokka wasn’t sure he had a choice, but something in the way the thin, dark-eyed woman stared at him made him wonder if he did in fact have a choice.

“If I refuse?”

The woman sat up a little straighter and smiled, this time there was a glint of humor in her eyes. “Well then you are free to go, no one is holding you here.”

Sokka raised one of his eyebrows and took the bait. “Alright… Well, where is my bag? And my friend?”

The woman lifted her arm and pointed to the end of his bed, Sokka’s eyes followed her direction and his eyes landed on the trusty-leather-bag that lay in a heap at the end of his small cot, resting in the corner of where the bed met the wall. “There is your bag and as for your friend, well he is what V would like to speak with you about. I am afraid you will not be able to take him anywhere…”

Sokka’s heart started to speed up, his toes curled at the jittery feeling of uneasiness when he realized just how alone he felt without Zuko nearby. The last couple of days… fuck the last couple of weeks he had relied on Zuko as a consistent force in his life, warm, alive, smirking and scoffing at him whenever he found an opportunity. He would talk to V, because he would play their game until he found his opportunity to strike and then he would rescue Zuko and get them the fuck out of here.

“Fine, I will speak to Val…” Sokka crossed his arms, the bandages made the bending of his elbow a little stiff and not as smooth as he wanted to look but the gesture made it’s point. Plus, he used the woman’s full-ish name that he overheard during one of their hushed whisper conversations; he felt it put the seriousness in his statement.

But the other woman just continued to smile at him, without a hint of malice or ill intent and it just made Sokka’s stomach uneasy… because what was all this? Why the drugging? Why the separation? Why the secrets?

“Can you stand alright? I know your body went through a great ordeal…” Her dark eyes glinted a shade of sadness that Sokka could relate to. He nodded, deciding to ditch the snarky comment he had lingering at the tip of his tongue, it would have been clever and it would have been about him walking all this way and carrying Zuko… but he didn’t have the heart because this strange woman seemed nice enough.

Sokka stood, his legs felt weak but his body surprisingly didn’t burn… The ache was low, just sitting in the back of his mind instead of the blinding all consuming pain he was used to. They had changed him too… he wore the most basic outfit now, it almost reminded him of the prison outfit. Just a basic grey tunic (that was too big) with green pants and no shoes still… He felt baggy… but cozy.

Sokka had forgotten what comfortable felt like, but the soft fabric and the loose hanging material only lightly brushed the bruises on his torso and arms along with all the other hurt that was covered by the bandages. Sokka realized he was really bandaged, maybe he didn’t realize the full extent of his own injuries. The woman extended an arm to him, the gesture reminded him of a green-eyed-thought-to-be-a-friend and the way she would do the same thing… he forced her smile out of his mind, it was tainted anyway.

Sokka was forced to accept her help when he tried to stand and his legs wanted to buckle underneath him, threatening to throw him back onto the floor… damn the universe fucking hated him. The woman gently helped him until he felt strong enough to walk out of the room now back in the naturally lit hallway, instead of turning right and heading for the seating area in the main room, they turned left and she led him towards the other side of the cabin. Sokka began to feel nervous as his legs kept following until they stepped out a large open doorway and out onto a back porch, the smell of a fire and meat hit his nose instantly.

His eyes adjusted to the full power of the sun’s light and he realized he had been mistaken and it must have been early afternoon… not morning. The fact that more time had passed without seeing Zuko made Sokka tense just a little tighter. V sat by the fire with one knee propped up and her elbow resting on it casually, she wore different men's clothing today… But keeping the general theme with the neutral tones and sleeveless style.

Sokka’s eyes found her burn right away. The skin spread out from where the blast must have been the hottest, just like the one on Zuko’s face, her point of contact seemed to be right above the elbow on her bicep. The flames licked the flesh all around that area smoothing it into a silky scar, Sokka didn’t find her scar unappealing or ugly… it was just a part of her just like his scars were a part of him. He was beginning to see that a lot of people carried scars.

“Look who is finally awake, thank you Eve.” The woman smiled and they exchanged eye contact that seemed to say actual words. Eve (braided woman’s name) gave Sokka’s bicep a small squeeze and she softly whispered to him. “She means well, give her a chance.”

Sokka didn’t give her a response because he had given her a chance and she had drugged him so no, no more chances. Instead he directed his anger at the woman he knew was the one that drugged them.

“You drugged us!” Sokka’s voice cracked and he quickly juiced up his mouth to bring the saliva down his throat so his new words were more powerful. “I want my friend.. a-and we are leaving! You’re - you’re… Crazy!”

The woman nodded in agreement and Sokka felt an even stronger surge of anger when she didn’t even look away from the fire, instead she motioned for him to come over and sit with her. He was appalled that she would even think… his eyes trailed down to the plate of meat and a bowl of rice with vegetables that were… cooked….

Sokka couldn’t stop his stomach from growling and his mouth was suddenly filled with enough moisture to sing a song, he was sure he would start drooling soon if he didn’t remember to swallow. He knew V heard his stomach and she smirked and turned her face until her hazel eyes saw him. “I set out this food because I know you are hungry. So, will you please join me by the fire?”

Sokka nodded and decided it would be much easier to escape on a full stomach, he might even be able to sneak away a few pieces of meat for their journey… he just had to coax her into telling him where Zuko was… His mind was plotting as he sat down next to the food, which was set on one side of the fire-pit that was built up from the stone deck. The woman had something stewing over the fire and Sokka noticed that the deck was full of odd plants alive and growing, while others were hanging from rope, drying alongside the skins from various animals that were stretched out in the sun tanning.

Behind the deck was a pen of pig-chicken next to it was another pen that had a few pig-sheep and Sokka could see there were a few other species of smaller animal further back. The entire area was set up to provide these women with a comfortable life and they wouldn’t ever have to leave their home, hidden behind the secret boulders, protected by the mountian. Sokka had to admit that he was impressed with the way their homestead was set up and he especially liked the fact that they had fresh meat available… he reached out tentatively and glanced up at V.

She rolled her eyes, “I didn’t drug the meat or the rice.. or the vegetables, if that’s what you’re thinking. Nothing here is drugged and I would like to explain myself if you would allow me to?”

Sokka’s hand hovered over the freshly-cooked meat, the brown and pink color was marbled with bits of shiny fat that moistened the outside, making it completely irresistible. He took hold of a piece of the meat and hesitated but finally gave in and took a bite, the salty smoky flavors exploded in his mouth and the sensation of chewing on an actual piece of meat made his eyes water. It was really cool how he just cries about everything now, he was going to have to fix that.

For the first time… in a really long time, he remembered what it was like to feel like Sokka again, but just for a moment. His eyes locked in on the woman sitting around the fire pit, he continued to take bites of the meat, ignoring the assortment of utensils set out for him to choose from. Instead he used his fingers and grabbed a few of the vegetables and mashed them together with the rice and popped the sloppy ball into his mouth. He made sure to glare at her between bites but nodded to her so that she could explain, it wouldn’t hurt to let her speak while he ate… he could plan while she talked.

“I only put a tiny bit of a concentrated mixture of valerian root and a itty-bitty bit of opium, which is how you noticed the taste right away… I have yet to perfect the delusion process that would allow it to be consumed undetected, but that is neither here nor there. I did it for you and your friends protection, you were not acting right, delusional, injured, infected… I am surprised you were still standing after the injuries we found on you. That burn on your side is going to leave a nasty scar, but Eve managed to clean out most of the infection, you had a nice collection of dirt in there – “

“What about my friend?”

The woman raised an eyebrow, “I see that some sleep has done nothing for your strong dependability on the other boy. I just thought you would want to know how close to death you, yourself were, never mind your friend.”

“Where is he?”

“He, your friend, does he have a name?”

Sokka hesitated… because he wasn’t dumb enough to give her Zuko’s real name, but he wasn’t entirely sure of any Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation names - wait -

“Kuzon, his name is Kuzon.”

V gave him a look that was a mixture between humorous and tolerant, she nodded slowly and reached over with a wooden spoon and stirred the bubbling mixture over the fire. “And what should I call you, knife-boy?”

“So- Uh… Sokka.”

He decided that his name was not as important to conceal as Zukos was, no one cared about the name of some non-bending kid from the Southern Water Tribe.

“Sokka? Water Tribe isn’t it? So your friend, Kuzon, you say that he escaped with you from Zhao’s prison?”

Sokka nodded.

“I see, well whatever they gave him, I am assuming it was something to suppress his bending. I will go ahead and guess fire bender because of his pale complexion and dark hair – or – or it could be that he has tried to burn me countless times… that is, until I finally had to actually sedate him.” She scoffed and rubbed her forehead and then laughed.

“Honestly, I thought you were mean… and then I met your friend um, Kuzon. If his bending wasn’t suppressed, I would have two scarred arms by now. Now… I have tried a few different methods to remove the toxins but so far they seem to be resilient to my efforts and it's very destructive. I am not sure how much of the stuff they gave him or what Zhao’s intentions were but – “

“Zhao’s intentions?” Sokka scoffed, it was an angry sound and his heart started to pound in his chest. “His intentions were to keep raping my friend until he either died from the poison or his injuries… Zhao had no intention of keeping either of us alive.”

Sokka’s piercing blue eyes stared directly into the woman’s face and he was surprised that she didn’t flinch back from the brutality of his words, instead she nodded. “Well that answers my next question, so you are aware of the nature of his injuries. I am sorry for your friend, I truly am, you both are very young… but this is war and I am a seasoned woman who has seen many things, granted this is some of the worst, but this is still a time of war and unfortunately people get hurt and people… well, they die.

“You were man enough to point a knife at me so I will keep things honest with you. When I found you two in the woods, I was not sure what to make of the situation and once I saw the injuries up close I decided to separate the two of you and allow you both to get some rest. Eve took care of your injuries while I dealt with… Uh, Kuzon. You were not being cooperative and I would not have been able to take care of your friend the way I needed to with you standing between us every time I tried to touch him.

“I do not begin to understand what you two have been through, separately and together and I am doing everything I can to save your friend. But Sokka, I do not think he will live, his fever is too high and the toxins are too strong.. maybe, if I knew what I was dealing with… but unfortunately, I am casting my medical net into the unknown and coming up very empty. Sometimes… the universe deals us a rotten hand and we have to play it anyway, the option to fold is always on the table but only cowards fold when gambling with their life and the universe.”

Sokka just blinked at her, she didn’t make any fucking sense, all that Sokka heard was that Zuko was going to die… and this wasn’t just his own mind playing tricks with his heart, this was the cold-hard-facts from a woman who seemed to know her stuff when it came to healing. He felt cold and his stomach receded away from the food he was still gnawing on, placing down his second piece of meat, his stomach twisted and the fire inside suddenly iced over.

“Can I see him?”

The woman hesitated, but she reluctantly nodded and stood up from the fire. She used a hooked wooden staff to pull the pot of bubbling muck from the metal trivet. She moved it away from the flames and over to an area where she had other pots resting, setting it down on a stone stand she hung her cane back in its spot and turned to Sokka.

She motioned for him to follow and turned to head back inside. Sokka followed close behind her as she walked back through the open doorway into the cabin. Instead of taking a left, which would be back in the direction of Sokka’s room she took a right and there were two doors in the small area where the hallway dead end. She opened one of the doors and Sokka’s heart broke when he saw Zuko’s pale face glistening in the sunlight.

They had pushed his bed up to the away from the wall, it seemed as though they had moved it to make sure it was in the direct contact of the sun’s rays that poured in through the glass. His room was set up exactly like Sokka’s, except his bedside had a bucket and a few different bottles of… whatever, kind of liquids set up on a shelf on the wall next to his bed.

Sokka’s heart hurtas he moved towards his friend, without thinking his legs took him to Zuko’s bedside. “Zuko… Zuko, are you ok?”

Sokka’s eyes scanned his face, there was a scattered layer of precipitation on his forehead and Sokka couldn’t help but remember the time that he was astonished when Zuko wasn’t sweating after fighting tooth and nail against the earth benders. Now, he was coated in a thin layer of sweat and Sokka could feel the heat radiating from his body in heavy waves washing over the Water Tribe boy who stood at his bedside.

The worst part… the absolutely most devastating part of it all, was that Zuko’s veins were black and they crawled up his neck and into his face. They were even visible under the twisted flesh of the scar on his left side… Sokka was taken back when Zuko cracked open his eyes, his face shifted into an expression that Sokka couldn’t read, his cloudy eyes looked vacant and far, far away.

Zuko’s neck was wrapped in a heavy helping of bandages and they just seemed to start there as they wrapped across his body from his neck down and covered him entirely down to his waist, Sokka couldn’t see past that because there was a sheet draped over him. He reached out and touched Zuko’s hair, brushing it back just enough to see the dark veins on his forehead and the final realization hit him.

Zuko was going to die.

The stupid, pony tail swinging, screaming, glaring, fire throwing, smirking, snorting, golden eyed, great listener, selfless heroic, kind-of-hilarious…. Fuck…. His best friend, his only best friend, was going to die. The stupid fire bender had made a way into his life that couldn’t be replaced, when he thought back to the darkness of his life… and all the bad, like when the men wanted to rape him in the shower and Zuko showed up…

Sokka's heart squeezed and dropped into his stomach at the memory… Zuko did it on purpose… and Sokka knew that now.

Zuko was intentional, he didn’t just do things on accident… Oh no, this asshole did things accidentally-on-purpose, and he had accidentally-on-purpose stopped those men from doing something horrible to Sokka… even before they knew each other…

But even now, Sokka didn’t know Zuko, he only knew the very small bits and pieces that people had shared about Zuko or the very rare occasions that the fire bender shared anything about himself. Sokka’s eyes flooded with tears and he felt the overwhelming need to hug his friend, but he held back, only because of the lingering fear of hurting him further.

“The toxin’s color is dark and that’s what is tinting his blood – “

“ - I know…”

“I’m sorry Sokka, but this is the unfortunate truth that comes from war, if I knew what I was dealing with I am sure I would have something here I could use to fight it. But I can not force his body to throw up again, his injuries are far too severe and at this point I feel as though it would be pointless if the toxin is already this rich in his bloodstream. His fever is rapidly increasing, which is his body’s way of trying to burn it out, but it's not working. All his fever will do is burn whatever energy he has left. I have one more option to try, but… it isn’t anything more than I have already tried. I can not keep guessing, his body is too weak and will not be strong enough to cope with it. I am sorry, I truly am… You both deserved better than this.”

Sokka didn’t give a shit when the tears fell down his face and left little damp spots on the sheet he had gathered in his hands, twisting the fabric within his grasp he felt all his fear and devastation surface when he looked down at Zuko. Even when he felt a strong grip on his shoulder and he turned slightly to see V holding it tight, “come on, let him rest.”

Sokka reluctantly left the room, the tears still pushing their way forward even as the door closed behind them. Suddenly, he felt sick and decided he needed to go lie down, his stomach hurt from the emotions and the food. V led him down the hall and past the back area where he had just been sitting.

He continued to follow her until he arrived in his own room and she led him inside, somehow she must have felt him feeling very wet-noodle-like. V didn’t say anything but she led him to the bed and helped him lay down; he only flinched a little when she spread something cooling on his chest in a circular motion. He barely remembered the minty smell as his mind collapsed onto itself with exhaustion, his face still damp from the tears.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

When Sokka woke up, the room was painted in the colors of autumn, flowing inside from the afternoon glow of the setting sun. The burnt orange hue cast across the room sent a wave a familiar chills of fear when he remembered the long metal hallway and the flickering glow of the lanterns, locked away on a swaying ship. But Sokka knew he wasn’t on that ship, he was back in the healer women’s cabin, in the room they put him in. He woke up alone again and he felt… cold.

He found himself longing again for the warmth of the fire bender that laid next to him every night since their escape. He missed the warmth that radiated off Zuko and the way his strong body held him… Sokka shook his head because that was a super weird thing to think and he was way too tired to be thinking anything crazy like that. Sokka sighed and laid back in the bed, trying not to think about the pain that was throbbing just below the surface of his calm demeanor.

He ignored the empty ache in his heart, his body hurt from pain that froze his chest shut when he thought about the way he felt so alone in this room by himself. Shifting his eyes to the bag in the corner of the bed and the wall, he decided to poke around inside and see if V and Eve had gone through the contents. Sokka was the king of distracting himself, pushing down the sadness and the pain and ignoring anything that reminded him of it.

Sokka took the leather strap and dragged the bag onto the bed, the poor bag looked worse, if that was even possible, but fuck it – he loved this fucking bag. It had been through everything with him, escaping Zhao - 3 times, he wouldn’t abandon the bag. No, the bag was here to stay.

He was surprised to see that everything was still inside and the red ribbon was still tied around the bundle of papers. Sokka was actually surprised that he was surprised when he realized they had not gone through his bad, because why would they? It was just a bunch of dirty-junk in here, but it was Sokka and Zuko’s dirty-junk and he was happy to have even this much.

Kicking the bag back onto the ground (in a loving way) he scooted back so his back rested against the wall, using the faint orange glow from the window above him he unrolled the pack of parchment. There wasn’t much to it, but Sokka needed the distraction and apparently these letters were important enough for Zhao to keep them in his creepy-hidden-compartment in his stupid desk.

Sokka wanted to smash Zhao in the face with the desk, and then shove him into the little compartment and leave him there. Nah, Sokka thought that was too nice of a death for him… what he would really like to do to him…

Sokka shook his head because he was not going to waste time daydreaming of all the awful ways he wanted Zhao to die, instead he opened the first parchment and looked at the page. His eyes went wide when he saw it was a letter of communication about troop advancement towards Omashu, there were locations of supply stations and marked routes, commanding officer names and ranks, how many men were in each platoon and so much more. Sokka glanced at the date noted and realized he had absolutely no concept of current time.

He scrambled for his bag and pulled out the map and spread it open on the bed, using his foot he bent his knee at an angle so his toes held one side of the map from trying to roll back into itself. He laid the piece of parchment on the map and used his finger to trace down to where Omashu was, if the Fire Nation had already advanced into the city, would there be a way that Sokka would know if their city had been captured or not?

… or if Aang was still there? Did Aang go and help King Bumi? Did Aang even know? Did Katara leave the Northern Water Tribe with Aang?

Sokka’s brain spun with the possibilities, he spent the next hefty chunk of time tracing over different routes he thought the Fire Nation would take based on the information from the correspondents in relation to the map. Sokka noted the coded coordinates and decided that would be a fun puzzle to try to crack when he had some free time, but for now he did his best to guess. Sighing, Sokka leaned his head back against the wall, leaving his one knee bent with his toes still holding down the corner of the map.

Sokka grabbed the bundle again and looked at the next sheet, his heart flipped when he saw the Fire Nation Royal seal, and his eyes bulged when saw it was communication between Zhao and the Fire Lord…. His eyes stopped when he saw Zuko’s name. He couldn’t read fast enough, and some of the characters were hard to interpret because they were using an advanced Fire Nation dialect and he didn’t recognize the way some of the characters were written.

He started to get frustrated because he wanted to know what the fuck Zhao had told Zuko’s dad… he kept reading and from what he could gather it seemed as if Zhao told the Fire Lord about Zuko releasing the Avatar and being the identity of the Blue Spirit.

Sokka decided he had to be misinterpreting some of the message because the Fire Lord’s response was to execute his traitorous son without honor and bury the body instead of burning it under… something, probably the sun? Sokka wasn’t sure but Zhao responded a few days later saying that it had been done and the Fire Lord… congratulated him?

Sokka’s stomach hurt, not only from what he was reading but also the heaviness of the meat sitting strong in his squirming tummy. He couldn’t imagine his own dad telling some random man to execute his son, without even hearing what he had to say… Sokka couldn’t imagine, not even for a second. But Sokka’s mind wandered to a fire bender named Shen sitting next to him and regaling him with the story of Zhao and his obsession with Zuko after his dad burned him… fuck.

Sokka rubbed his face and tossed the parchments to the side, he was sick and he didn’t want to look at them anymore. He couldn’t even read them properly and already the words made him want to go into the Avatar state and fuck shit up all over the Fire Nation. Sokka snarled before taking a deep breath to control the trembling that was shaking his hands, he looked down at the next sheet that was poking out from under the pile and his heart stopped.

It was schematics for a drill… Sokka grabbed the papers back and his lungs gasped. Oh no… Sokka’s panic raised… there was more and it was bad... it was the war balloons… the fucking war balloon blueprints they fought off the Fire Nation back at the Northern Air Temple to protect!

How… How did they get this!? Oh no…. His eyes dried as he read the words… Ba Sing Se, invasion, conquering… They were going to drill into the outer walls of Ba Sing Se and flood the city with soldiers. If that didn't work they were going to be able to fly…. Oh fuck, they would be able to fly right into the city and burn it to the ground….

They could launch a full invasion from the air… and no one had any idea. They would catch the city unprepared, so many people would die...

Sokka’s heart was pounding, there were 3 pages full of information on their strategies and schematics of their war balloons and the massive drill, including where they planned on penetrating the wall. Zhao was planning on bringing the navy to some coded location to assist with the occupation and illuminate the Water Tribe resistance.... Sokka’s heart stopped… His dad. Pushing past all the emotions that stirred up he paused when he saw Princess, he remembered Zuko mentioning a sister, so she must be older if she is leading the siege of Ba Sing Se.

That was a scary thought, an older version of Zuko who was also a female. Growing up with a sister he knew just how dangerous females could be. Especially, if she had a temper anywhere close in comparison to the way Katara could pop off without much hesitation and if she got really heated about a topic… well, you better watch out. If this Princess was anything like Katara and even half as vicious as he knew Zuko was capable of being… She would be a worthy opponent.

When he folded back to the final page his brow furrowed in confusion when he realized that he was staring at a list, with measurements… his hands went numb and his fingers struggled to keep hold of the thin parchment. His heart picked up all-too-quickly and he jumped off the bed in a crazed, stumbling motion.

This was… it - it was… a list…

Sokka took off running, out the door of his room and sliding down the smooth wooden hallway. His heart was thumping in his throat as he ran to the back porch where he had last seen V. To his devastation, she wasn’t sitting by the fire; he let out a frustrated groan and ran back into the cabin. Turning to the right he went towards Zuko’s room when he saw Eve exiting, sliding the door shut behind her.

She looked surprised to see Sokka running full speed towards her but she smiled none-the-less, he ignored the blooded bandages she had in a bowl at her hip. She must have just changed Zuko’s bandages… Sokka ignored the flare of anger when he thought about his injured friend but he couldn’t dwell on that right now he needed to find V.

“Sokka is everything – “

“Where is V!?”

“Oh – she is in her study, would – “

“WHERE!?”

“Follow me!” She moved quickly, obviously sensing Sokka’s distress. She moved down the hallway, passing the back porch, his room, the cabin’s front entrance and main room, all the way to the other side of the long building. Sokka spotted the kitchen as they rushed through, it was home to more plant life growing everywhere, he almost stumbled into Eve when she stopped suddenly and knocked on a door.

“Love? Sokka is out here and he really needs to speak with you.”

He heard movement inside and the door slid open, the older woman looked unamused by the disruption but stood to the side so that Sokka could enter. He heard the women exchange words and a kiss before sliding the door shut, Sokka ignored the confused feeling that bubbled in his chest when he thought about two women kissing. He had seen two women kiss…. Katara, Gran Gran, those women – but that was completely not important right now.

“Here!” Sokka handed her the sheet of parchment and she eyed him suspiciously before taking the page.

Her eyes started reading, Sokka noted mentally that she was fluent in Fire Nation script which was… odd, because most people from other nations wouldn’t know some of the specificity Fire Nation characters used. His thoughts were interrupted when she moved around him to a large table pushed up against a wall lined with shelves filled with jars of liquids, powders and an assortment of other chunky, slimy, weird stuff… there was more hanging plant life, some living and some drying.

“Where did you get this?” She looked at him, her hand still gripping one of the smaller jars as her hazel eyes searched him.

“I had it in my bag, I took it from Zhao’s desk… I didn’t look at it until just now – “

“This… this just might save your friend's life, I hope you know that. This is a complete breakdown of the compounds used to make the supplements given to your friend… whoever put this together… they were skilled and clever –“

“And probably dead… He helped me escape.”

“Well… cleverness doesn’t make him a good person. I am going to guess the man was from the Earth Kingdom?”

Sokka nodded and watched her shuffle through her ingredients and pull out a few different things and place a pinch and a dash of this and that into a mortar and pestle. “Yes, he was… how did you know?”

“These ingredients are mostly native to the Earth Kingdom and the way that he does the measurements is in Earth Kingdom units, a system derived in Ba Sing Se. This man would have had to have studied at the university there or been from the Upper Ring and raised with a private tutor because it is not common knowledge.”

Sokka frowned, “how do you know this?”

“I know this because I studied at Ba Sing Se University.”

“When?”

The woman scoffed, “why? Because I am old? Yes I did, a long time ago.”

“Why did you leave Ba Sing Se?”

He saw the woman hesitate, her eyes lingered on the parchment sitting on the table next to the bowl she was adding her ingredients to. She exhaled and shook her head slowly, adding a pinch of orange power into the mix. “Well… The Fire Nation isn’t the only nation that has corruption and greed. They are just the only nation attempting to spread it. The Earth Kingdom has its evil too, even where there is no war.

“But people love war, it gives them an excuse to do terrible things and they use the war to justify their evil deeds. Similar evil lurks inside the walls of Ba Sing Se, there is a group of mercenaries called the Dai Li. They have an advanced network of tunnels and a prison full of brainwashing and continuous spread of corruption… right under the Earth King’s nose.”

She sighed and began using the pestle to grind everything together, her eyes seemed to stare off the way that Zuko’s did when he was lost in thought… Sokka’s stomach turned when he guessed what Zuko could have possibly been thinking about all those times… Shaking his head, Sokka took a deep breath and listened to V continue.

“They were recruiting young, highly ranked students from the university and a long time ago, I was one of those young, smart students who was eager to make a name for myself and discover the next big cure for illness. I was sure I was going to change the world… well, I could have changed the world….”

Her hand gestured towards the paper. “This… this is the direction they wanted to take the war... Chemical warfare, using poisons and deadly chi blockers to bring, not only the Fire Nation to its knees, but take the rest of the world as well. I am sad to say, it took until I saw the underground prison of torture named Lake Laogai that I knew that I was on the wrong side. Sometimes you think that because you are fighting the ‘bad guy’ that you are the ‘good guy’ by default… but the lines of war - the lines of this war are blurred… and have been for generations.”

Sokka contemplated her words, for a weird woman wearing man’s clothing living in the woods, she was a lot smarter than she looked. V glanced over at him and gave him a smile, “I’m going to take this to your friend and see if we can’t reverse this, ok?”

Sokka nodded and just as they turned to leave Eve came running to the door, her face was pale and her eyes wide. In her hand she held a single sheet of curly parchment, “Fire Nation – soldiers – message from town – they are coming up the mountain – they’ll be here soon!”

Sokka’s heart dropped, his arms began to tremble and his fear made him bolt out the door, sliding past Eve. He wasn’t even sure where he was going… but he knew exactly where he was going. His feet took him to Zuko’s room and he slid the door open with way-too-much-force, the boy flinched at the sound but hardly stirred.

Zuko lay still on the bed, so pale and so sick looking… Sokka didn’t know what to do now that he was here, so he just stood at his bedside ready to fucking kill Zhao with his bare hands if he came in here.

It took a couple of minutes, but V and Eve were right behind him. “Get your friend, NOW.” She pointed at Zuko and made a motion for Sokka to follow them, he didn’t skip a beat. Gathering Zuko in his arms and ignoring the fact that the other boy didn’t gasp in pain or make any movement at all…

Sokka was surprised to be led back to the other end of the horizontally designed cabin and back into the kitchen. The large space in the middle of the kitchen floor had a rug spread over the wood, Eve bent down and flipped up the corners revealing the hidden trap-door underneath. She grabbed the wooden pull-string handle and pulled the door open, there were steps leading down into the darkness below. Sokka couldn’t see the bottom and his hands gripped Zuko a little tighter as he held the fever-riddled boy bridal style in his arms. He ignored how the strain pulled at the wound on his side and how his muscles barely held onto the fire bender’s heavy body.

Sokka hesitated, everything in his mind was screaming not to step down those stairs… it could all be a trap and if he was confined in a small space with no means to escape… His pocket felt really light without the poison resting inside and with no knife he was a sitting turtle-duck ready to be roasted. He looked to his right at V, who must have been expecting him to hesitate because her eyes were strong and steady as they waited for him.

“You have to go down there… and be very, very quiet.”

“… How do I know you aren’t going to trap us inside and give us up to save your own skin? Zhao is going to know we are here… he just is… and he will threaten you and maybe burn this whole place to the ground… How do I know you aren’t just locking us in here to use us as leverage to bargain with for your own lives?”

V raised an eye brow, “you use your intelligence for such stupid conspiracies, what a waste. Get inside, I will not use you and your friend for leverageWater Tribe boy Sokka and Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation. Is that not the name of the boy you hold there in your arms? You two need to get down there right now.”

Sokka’s eyes were super wide, he knew this because it almost hurt to be in this much shock… How could she have known? There is just no way she could have…

“Now, Sokka… Or do you want Admiral Zhao to take back your friend?”

The words snapped Sokka out of his dazed and confused state of mind, his brow furrowed and he gave her an angry glare for the dirty trick, even though she was right… Zhao would do awful things to every person standing in this kitchen if he found them all together…

Sokka took a deep breath and nodded, taking a few steps down into the darkness below, he heard a pst and turned just enough to see V smirking playfully at him from the top of the stairs.

“Next time you are picking an alias for your friend, don’t pick a name that hasn’t been used in, I don't know…100 years? I think the last guy I heard of whose name was Kuzon was my ex-girlfriends great, great, great grandfather. Pick something more aloof next time, like Lee… There are a million Lees.”

She gave him a friendly wink and she waited for him to take the final step down into the cramped area below the floorboards. It was a small bunker constructed into the rock of the mountain the cabin was built on, it looked like it was constructed from earth bending, just like the porch. Sokka wondered if either of the women were earth benders…

He realized there was a lot he didn’t know about the women, but they seemed to know more than Sokka would have liked about him and Zuko. Sitting down on the ground with a heavy, thump he pulled Zuko close and peered up at the tiniest fragments of light flickering in from the couple of candles being lit in the kitchen as the darkness of night took over the home.

Sokka held onto his fire bender and buried his face in the top of his head, he smelled like strange herbs and sandalwood, much nicer than the sweat and grime from before but still missing the smoky smell Sokka longed for. He felt Zuko shift and Sokka looked down at his friend as the smallest bit of light touched Zuko’s face and he opened his eyes.

Sokka smiled and held up a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture, the same way Zuko had the night he rescued him as the Blue Spirit. Zuko nodded and shifted in closer to Sokka who happily pulled him closer until the boy’s head was resting in the crook of Sokka’s neck and his burning body curled against his front. With both arms around Zuko he closed his eyes and listened… and waited….

Notes:

H E L L O! ! ! ! !

Welcome back. :D

So I would just like to note that this is now 2 CHAPTERS with no Zhao <3

But… Uhhh… we are gunna go ahead and break that streak with the next chapter. So what do you guys think so far? Trust the forest lesbians? You think they are affiliated with Zhao in some way?

Ok ok ok ok… O K A Y.

So I am really excited for next chapter, I know I said that about this chapter but this one is leading up to next one which I am excited about :D <3

So I will explain the sudden chapter count, and the added series, sooooo…. People have commented in the past that word counts can be intimidating and I know I am excited to keep the story going…. So I am ending this first part in 2 chapters. Then we will start a second book & I already have the title and I am so excited to tell you – but I am still open to ideas if anyone has any creative ones.

SECONDLY, some of you have commenting these AWESOME ideas of sub-stories or cool ideas of their own twists on side plots & I LOVE IT! Please, go crazy! Writing is such a great outlet (take it from someone who knows lol) and if you have inspiration just see where it goes! If you do decide to write it let me know! I would love to read it.

Now here is where I RANT ABOUT HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU GUYS….. & like fucking seriously!!!!! You guys are my addiction, I love love love reading your comments and every time I get a new one I am just like AHHHHH NEW BEST FRIEND!!! Sorry its taking me longer to respond but these chapter lengths are getting hefty but I am getting back to everyone so HA! (I know no one is rooting against me I am just feeling argumentative) :D

But seriously the fact that you guys take your time to comment and leave your thoughts and opinions makes me really enjoy writing this story, and seriously for those of you who reach out on Tumblr too – it like rocks my world. Especially when people keep stopping by and dropping off FAN ART!!!!! My chest like HURTS from the art I am receiving and I just CAN NOT express my love for it. I am going to figure out how to actually link the fan art and then maybe just keep the reblog going. I DON’T KNOW I AM WORKING ON IT!! AHHHH!!!

But I fucking love you guys and please don’t forget to comment and leave your thoughts, I cherish every one of them.

ALRIGHTY-OOOOOOO OH OH OH!!! Ok I’m done.

Hit me up on Tumblr. I’m there.

https://ssreeder.tumblr.com

(Did you know Ao3 has a character limit in the notes – I learned allllll about it, it’s 5000)