Chapter Six

Reaching the Firelord's room, Sokka suddenly felt anxious. It felt like that time he was waiting in his tent for Suki. That time when Zuko walked in instead. He laughed at the memory.

    "What is it?" Zuko smiled.

    "Oh, I just suddenly remembered something funny." Sokka answered, his throat was starting to hurt from pitching his voice up for so long.

    Zuko nodded in understanding, a ghost of a smile still on his lips. He opened the door and walked inside.

    "If you want to take off your makeup there's a bathroom through that door over there." Zuko noted awkwardly, pointing to a door.

    "Oh, I actually have my remover back in my room...," Sokka pointed to the door they'd just come through. "I'll be right back."

    The Firelord grabbed his hand before he reaches the door and pulled him over. He gave him a tiny smile again and put a hand to Sokka's face. The water tribe boy felt his face start to heat up and his heart quicken. Zuko gave him a little peck on the corner of Sokka's lips. But then he pulled away quickly, both of them a bit taken aback by the action.

    "I-! I'm so sorry!" Zuko uttered.

    Sokka panicked. He didn't want Zuko to regret it, he.... He liked it...

    Grabbing his hands, he pulled Zuko back and gave him a reassuring smile. Zuko looked into his eyes and both of them met in between the fragment of space between them. Ending in a warm, sweet kiss.

    Both unsure, there wasn't much else. It felt amazing however, it felt right. Sokka pulled off his gloves and ran his hands through Zuko's hair. He pulled the other closer and Zuko pressed into him, feeling more confident. They pulled apart and Sokka looked into Zuko's eyes. The Firelord's expression was heated and his eyes were glazed over with lust and excitement.

     They kissed again, this time more passionate. Zuko backed them into a wall and moved his hand up Sokka's side. His lips stopped and he pulled away again, looking down at Sokka's body.

    "Y-you're...?" He uttered.

    "Ah shit..." Sokka cursed under his breath.

    "You're a... Guy?" Zuko looked into Sokka's eyes.

     "Mm... Yeah...," Sokka sighed, looking away. "I'm sorry..."

    Zuko stepped back but his expression was just confused and conflicted. He didn't seem like he was disgusted or anything.

     "Ok, I'm... going to go and give you some space I think... If you want me to go back to Kyoshi island or anything... I... I understand." Sokka sighed, moving to open the door.

   Zuko didn't stop him.

    He left the room and closed the door only to race down the hallway to his room, his face burning hot. Despite the uncomfortable and upsetting atmosphere he'd just escaped, he still kissed Zuko.

    Entering his room, he felt his hand go to his lips. The image of Zuko flashed in his mind, his expression when he'd left was unsettling, but his mouth was stained red with Sokka's lipstick.

    Touching his face, he felt the warmth and laughed to himself. How could one kiss make him so happy?

    But... Would it ever happen again?

_

    Standing in the bathroom, he wiped off the makeup on his face. It seemed that he'd have to get his gloves back later. There was a soft knock on the bathroom door.

    "Come in." Sokka called, still looking at his reflection.

    He looked down at the makeup wipes on the counter and grabbed another one. He wiped his eye and looked back into the mirror and gasped.

    "Z-Zuko!" He stammered, turning around to face the equally shocked Firelord.

    "Sokka?" He uttered, his eyes moving to the water tribe boy's clothes. "You...?"

    "I can explain!" Sokka pleaded, putting the makeup wipes down.

    Zuko closed his mouth and looked into Sokka's eyes. Waiting for the reason.

    "See, Suki needed more help and... I offered to help her because Aang and Katara were kinda... Well... Anyways we didn't want you to worry about me being here so I pretended to be someone I'm not," He explained, moving a little closer to the guy in the doorframe. "I'm sorry for lying to you..."

    "Wait...," Zuko grasped his head like he'd just gotten a headache. "You're Meng?"

    "I..." Sokka uttered, suddenly losing his train of thought. "Yes."

    Zuko sighed, piecing it all together. He'd kissed Sokka, Sokka kissed him back... maybe it was just a heat of the moment sort of thing?

    "What about Suki?" Zuko asked, trying to divert his attention to something else.

    "Suki just wants me to be happy... Her words... Not mine..." Sokka mumbled, looking at the floor.

    It all happened so fast... But maybe it was supposed to happen. After all, Zuko had known Sokka for over a year now. He looked at Sokka's face which was twisted with awkwardness and fear. He didn't seem like he regretted it...

    "What do you want to do?" Zuko breathed, getting tired of the silence between them.

    "Whatever you want. If you want to stay friends then that's fine. We can pretend it never happened and I'll even go back to Aang and Katara if you want." Sokka replied quickly, silently hoping that he'd at least get to stay at the palace.

    "Ok...," Zuko looked away again. "Yeah that... That might be best..."

    Sokka dropped his gaze to the floor again with a soft nod. It hurt that Zuko didn't want him to stay, but being rejected at the same time didn't sugar coat it at all. The Firelord left the room almost immediately, and Sokka felt his eyes start to well up with tears.

    Sure Zuko said that he'd be fine with being friends... But you can't just make out with your best friend and then pretend everything is normal. Would they ever be the same again?