An Innocent Spark [Zukka]

Chapter 33: A Night Out on the Ice

After the fireworks had ended and they returned home, they spent the rest of the night playing board games before calling it a night. Katara and Aang went to their room, and Sokka and Zuko went to their respective rooms.

Sokka wished Zuko were next to him in bed like he had been after he had been abducted by the Dai Li. He laid in bed for a couple hours catching up on some reading, only stopping when he heard the quietest knock on the door.

"Couldn't stay away from the most handsome guy in the south pole?" Sokka joked with a big grin plastered for Zuko to laugh at.

"Get your coat, I've got something special planned," Zuko said mysteriously. Sokka liked surprises so he hurried and grabbed his coat. They made their way down the hallway as quietly as possible and slipped out the front door.

"Where are we going?" Sokka asked, knowing full well he would not get a response.

"It's a surprise boomerang boy," Zuko said leading him past the entrance to the town and towards the festival grounds.

"Close your eyes," the firebender said and Sokka begrudgingly complied with his demand. He felt Zuko's hand grab his wrist and he guided him towards their destination.

"Keep them closed for just a few more seconds," Zuko said and let go of Sokka's wrist. A few quiet shots of fire made Sokka suspicious.

"Can I open them now?" he asked after the firebender had stopped doing whatever he was doing.

"Yes," Zuko replied. To the water tribe boy's shock Zuko had brought him to the small ice-skating rink Katara and Aang had built. The entire thing was lit up with candles and in Zuko's hands was a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

"Zuko I... I don't know what to say," Sokka said and he fought back the tears in his eyes.

"Say you'll teach me how to ice skate," Zuko said and smiled. Sokka nodded and they put on their ice skates.

He led the firebender out onto the ice and looped his arm around Zuko's to help him stay balanced. He taught him how to propel himself forwards, how to slow down, and how to fall the less painful way.

Seeing Zuko progress and eventually get the hang of it made Sokka indescribably happy, especially knowing the firebender was going out of his comfort zone for him. They raced each other around the rink, tried doing tricks and ending up flat on their butts most of the time.

Sokka's favorite part was when they slowed down, and he took Zuko in his arms and they just slowly slid across the ice, embracing each other. Zuko was naturally warm due to him being a firebender, and Sokka did not want to let go of him partly because of his warmth.

"Sokka! There you are I..." he heard his dad shout and his eyes shot wide open. He turned his head slowly to see his father standing near the entrance to the ice-skating rink out of breath and shocked.

Zuko looked just as shocked as Sokka and it took a second before either one of them thought to let go of the other. He could see his dad's eyes move back and forth between the two of them and the bouquet of flowers by Sokka's shoes next to him.

"Dad I can explain..." Sokka said but stopped when he saw his dad's expression change from one of shock to one of sadness. He looked at Zuko for help, but he looked as pale as a ghost.

"I've been searching for you for half an hour! The competitor who won the games wasn't from our tribe, he is a dangerous criminal named Torak who escaped a northern prison a month ago," Hakoda said and his voice was fraught with pain and anger. "When I rushed to your house you two were gone, we were afraid he had gotten to you. Now I see why you weren't home..."

His father's look said things his words could not. He looked disappointed, but most of all his eyes harbored a sadness that imparted itself on Sokka as well. Katara and Aang came running up to chief Hakoda from the direction of the town, shouting, "Torak's been spotted heading towards the mountains. He..."

They stopped when they got to Sokka's dad and saw him standing there, broken and speechless. Their gaze fell onto Sokka and Zuko and then to the flowers, just like his dad had just moments before.

Sokka skated over to them, but when he got to them, he couldn't find the right thing to say.

"We need to go after him," Hakoda finally said and looked away from Sokka, "he's too dangerous to let him get away."

Sokka met Katara's eyes and he saw the shock in them as well as sadness, but hers somehow looked different than their father's. She followed after her dad who had already ran off to catch the escaped prisoner. To his surprise Aang stayed there and looked him in the eye.

"I'm happy for you two," he said in a way that felt genuine, "I wish you would have told us sooner though. We are your friends after all."

"It's my fault he didn't tell you sooner," Zuko spoke up and appeared at Sokka's side. "I asked him to keep it a secret until I felt ready. It was selfish and I never should've asked him to keep something like this from you guys."

"Zuko it's not your fault. I wanted to keep it from everyone for a while too," Sokka said. He looked into the firebender's golden eyes and tried his best to show him he was alright, that they were alright.

"Katara looked like she was in shock too," Sokka said. He sighed and wondered what he would say to her when she got back.

"Don't worry Sokka, she only looked like that because she lost a bet her and I had going," Aang said cheerfully. Sokka and Zuko both looked at the young avatar confused.

"You might think you were being discrete, but I had my suspicions about you two ever since we were in Ba Sing Se," Aang said and laughed some, "I knew I was right when you two were whispering while the fireworks were going off."

Sokka's mouth hung open. His own sister had bet money that he and Zuko weren't together. Toph had rubbed off on her too much.

"I should go help Katara and your dad, but I wanted you guys to know I support you completely," Aang said with a smile before running off after his dad and sister.

"At least your sister and Aang are not upset about us," Zuko said and picked up the bouquet of flowers and gave it back to Sokka.

"Yeah, but I'm afraid my dad will never come around," Sokka said, his eyes examining the flowers to avoid making eye contact with Zuko. If only he knew how much his dad had been talking about how perfect he and Suki were for each other over the past few weeks, then he would understand why Sokka felt so sad.

"Why don't we go home and get some rest so we can face that challenge tomorrow?" Zuko asked, brushing his hand across Sokka's face. His touch felt so nice and almost made Sokka forget how bad he felt.

"What about the guy who escaped? We should help them in the search," Sokka asked. Zuko pointed off in the distance and he had to squint to see what he was pointing to. Coming towards them was the same guy who had beat Katara, frozen in a block of ice and from the looks of it knocked out.

"No matter what anyone else thinks, I will always be by your side," Zuko said, making Sokka smile and blush slightly for a change.

"Let's go home," Sokka said to the beautiful firebender whose cheeks were turning bright red from the cold. Even if his dad did not approve of their relationship, Sokka still couldn't help but felt like the luckiest man in the world.